Dr. Gurkoff first began attending NNS in 2001 as a graduate student in the Hovda/Giza labs at UCLA. After receiving his PhD in Neuroscience in 2006, Dr. Gurkoff did a postdoctoral fellowship in the Lyeth lab at UC Davis and was later promoted into a faculty position in 2012.  Currently Dr. Gurkoff is an Associate Professor, the Associate Vice Chair of Research and the Bronte Endowed Scholar in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UC Davis. His research at UC Davis is focused on how brain injury results in changes in neural connectivity and whether neuromodulation can be used to improve both electrophysiological and behavioral outcomes. Dr. Gurkoff is also a Health Science Research Specialist at the VA of Northern California as a part of his role in the PRECISE-TBI program.  Dr. Gurkoff continues to be very involved in the National Neurotrauma Society. After several smaller service roles, in 2016 he first joined the Symposium Program Committee and has served 4 of the last 6 years – including being co-chair for NNS 2024 meeting in San Francisco, CA. In 2018 he was elected chair of TEAM, and as part of his two-year term he worked to transition TEAM from an independent organization into a robust NNS committee and, along with Drs. LaPlaca and White, launched the Local Scholars program. In 2019 he was elected to Council and was able to participate in the implementation of our current strategic plan. In 2023 he served as Treasurer and as part of the Executive Council. He currently serves as President of the National Neurotrauma Society. Ultimately, Dr. Gurkoff has two primary goals in his academic career. The first is to work with his colleagues to develop innovative solutions to improve the quality of life for patients with a history of neurotrauma. In addition, he is committed to training and mentoring the next generation of neuroscientists, in general, and neurotraumatologists more specifically.